Apple co-founder and former CEO has the most expensive John Hancock on the planet

How much for scrawl from the hand of Jobs? A nice mid-range Audi

It is official: Steve Jobs, the co-founder of Apple, the marketing demigod, the dream weaver that captured the hearts and wallets of a planet, has the priciest signature around.

This factoid – which seems fitting given the relative recommended retail price of Apple gear – is according to the 2018 edition of Paul Fraser Collectibles PRC40 Autograph Index.

Signatures by the iInventor are "incredibly rare", said the dealer of high-end collectibles. "Jobs was a reluctant signer, always maintaining that Apple was a team effort," said Daniel Wade, head writer at Paul Fraser Collectibles.

El Reg wrote a wonderful tribute to the great man on the seventh anniversary of his death some months back. Allow yourself a moment of contemplation, and perhaps keep a box of tissues nearby, and give it a re-read – assuming you read it first time round.

Jobs' autograph has leapt 14.3 per cent in value since 2017 to £40,000. But he wasn't the bigger mover and shaker in the stakes: the John Hancock for British physicist Professor Stephen Hawking, who died in March 2018, has gone up 100 per cent in the past few months to £30,000.

"Only a handful of genuine Stephen Hawking hand-signed books exist, mostly from the '70s before Hawking's illness made it impossible for him to write. You're more likely to see Hawking's thumb print signatures which are generally far cheaper," said Wade.

Behind the top two are James Dean (£18,000), Bruce Lee (£12,000) and Marilyn Monroe (£11,000).

The most expensive signature from a person that is still alive is the £2,950 for Paul McCartney's scrawl. Prince William, JK Rowling, Prince Harry and Ringo Starr made up the remaining top five. ®